Adopted
by writeallnight
Summary: This is an episode tag to "Who's Your Daddy?" in season 4. It follows the moments after Paige shares her big news with Evan.


Episode Tag to "Who's Your Daddy?"

Disclaimer: They're not mine, but thanks for letting me borrow them!

A/N: Hey there folks! Long time no see! I started this fic pretty much right after "Who's Your Daddy" aired and I've been fiddling with it and fiddling with it to the point that I'm just tired of it! So I thought I would throw it out there and see what you all thought. Enjoy!

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"I didn't know you were adopted," Evan said, surprise written all over his face.

"Neither did I." Paige felt her throat begin to tighten as she tried to hold back the tears threatening to spill over her lashes.

"They never told you?" Evan asked in horror.

Paige shook her head. "Never. Not once in twenty-eight years did they ever mention it. All those family dinners, no one ever thought to say 'my this pâté is delicious, by the way Paige, you're adopted.'"

"I'm so sorry," Evan said softly.

Paige began to pace. "I just can't believe they didn't tell me. How could they not tell me?"

She could feel a headache building as she continued to rant. "This is not something you keep from your child. This is not Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy. This is something you mention. 'Hey Paige, we're not really your parents.' How hard is that?"

"What do you want to do?" Evan asked. "Do you want to cry? Or throw something? You can hit me if you want to. Or you could sit down and we could talk."

"I can't sit down, Evan!" Paige exploded. "Do you not understand? Everything is a lie. My whole life is a lie. I have idea who I am!"

Her breathing was coming in ragged gasps between sobs. "How am I supposed to deal with this? How am I supposed to face my parents? Oh my god. They're not my parents. I have no family."

Paige put a hand to her chest as a terrible tightness began to spread. Evan took a step toward her. "Paige?"

"I can't breathe!" she gasped.

Evan reached for her, catching her as her knees buckled. "Paige!"

Her breathing grew faster and more desperate as he helped her into a chair. "Hank!" he roared at the top of his lungs, his voice shaking in fear. "Breathe Paige, breathe. Hank!"

After what seemed like an eternity Hank came jogging down the stairs. "I heard you the first time. You didn't-" he stopped as he took in the scene before him. "What happened?" he asked as he knelt by Paige's side.

"She was talking and now she can't breathe!" Evan told him frantically.

"Okay, Paige, is your chest tight?" Hank asked as he felt for her pulse.

She nodded.

"Is it a heart attack?" Evan asked worriedly. "Hank do something!"

"Evan, back up," Hank told him firmly. "You're not helping." He turned his attention back to the patient. "Okay, Paige, I think you're having a panic attack." He took both of her hands in his. "Look at me. Just do what I do. Take a deep breath like this."

Hank demonstrated and Paige did her best to follow. It took several minutes for her breathing to slow. "Better?" Hank asked.

She nodded as a tear slid down her cheek.

Hank looked to Evan who appeared drained. "Sit with her," the doctor ordered, seeing that neither of them was capable of independent thought at the moment. "I'll be right back."

Evan sank down on the couch, his arm going around Paige's shoulders. Hank went to the kitchen and opened a cabinet, pulling out a bottle of ibuprofen. He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and unscrewed the top as he walked back to the couch. He offered it to Paige. "Drink this."

She took the bottle with shaking hands and sipped.

"Here." Hank put two ibuprofen in her hand. "These will help with the headache."

"Thanks," she whispered after she swallowed. "I can't stop shaking."

"It will stop soon," Hank assured her. "Have you ever had a panic attack before?"

Paige shook her head. "I've never felt anything like that."

"You'd be surprised how many people go to the ER thinking they're having a heart attack when in reality they're just panicking," Hank told her. He glanced up at his brother who had his arm wrapped in a death grip around Paige's shoulders. "Ev, I think you can loosen up a little."

Evan looked up in surprise and released his death grip on Paige.

"Paige, panic attacks usually have a trigger like a traumatic event. Did something happen?" Hank asked.

Paige took a deep breath. "All that stuff they've been saying on TV? The things they've been accusing my dad of? I finally talked to them and they told me that…that I'm…" her voice broke.

She looked up at Evan, unable to continue. He gave her an encouraging squeeze and then looked at his brother. "She's adopted," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "She didn't know."

"Oh, Paige. I'm so sorry," Hank said softly.

"Thanks, Hank," she whispered, attempting a smile.

Hank handed her a tissue. "You need to take it easy tonight. Take a bath and go to bed. I'll be in my room. Call me if you need anything," he told them.

Hank was nearly to the stairs when Evan called to him. Hank turned as his brother caught up. "Is she going to be all right?" the younger Lawson asked worriedly.

"A big shock like this isn't something to take lightly," Hank told him. "She'll recover from the attack. Only time will tell how she'll deal with the emotional trauma."

Evan sighed. "Thanks for your help. That was one of the scariest things I've ever seen."

"You did fine Ev," Hank told him, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"What do I do now?" Evan asked helplessly.

"Just be there for her. In whatever way she needs," Hank replied. "Get her to bed soon. Her body is going to be more worn out than she'll realize." He dropped his hand. "You should get some sleep too. I'll see you in the morning."

Evan didn't sleep that night. He finally managed to coax Paige upstairs and into some pajamas but then she'd said she didn't feel like sleeping. They'd ended up downstairs on the couch watching reruns of "Gilmore Girls." Paige cried again and finally wore herself into an exhausted slumber in Evan's arms.

Evan sat awake on the couch for hours, his heart breaking for the woman he loved. He vacillated between anger at Mr. and Mrs. Collins and deep concern over whether or not Paige was going to recover. It scared him to think she might never be the same. The thought of losing her to some sort of depression was nearly unbearable.

It was sometime around 5:30 when Paige woke up. "Hey," Evan said softly, brushing the hair gently from her face.

"Hey," she replied.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

She swallowed and blinked. "Like crap. Everything hurts," she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "Did you sleep?"

He shook his head. "I couldn't."

"Evan," she put a hand on his cheek. "I'm so sorry. You should go to bed."

"No, I'm all right," he told her. "Are you?"

She sighed. "I will be. Somehow. Probably not today." She sat quietly for a moment. "Thank you for everything last night. I'm sorry about how I reacted."

"You have nothing to apologize for," he told her. "If I'd gotten news like that I probably would have done the same thing."

She snuggled closer to him. "It's just crazy that they would keep something like that from me."

"I'm sure they thought they were doing the right thing," Evan told her. "Sometimes family make mistakes. Look at Hank and me. We've made a lot of mistakes. But we're still family. And we're your family too Paige."

She smiled. "You're right. You are my family. And I couldn't ask for a better one."

Her smile faded. "I'm not going to be better right away. I don't know how I'm going to feel or what I'm going to do about all this."

"That's okay. We'll just take it one step at a time. Like right now. Our first step could be going up to bed."

"That sounds like a great first step," she told him. "You look terrible."

"Thank you," Evan said with a cheeky smile as he rose. "You on the other hand look fabulous. The messy hair. The drool down your cheek."

"What?!" Paige put a hand on her face. "I do not have drool down my cheek. Evan!"

He was already halfway up the stairs and Paige was only too happy to give chase. She didn't know what tomorrow was going to look like, but it was wonderful to know that Evan would be facing it with her.

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A/N: Good gracious I hate endings. Beginnings I rock, middles I sail through, but ending the story? It is the worst! I feel like the one ends kind of awkwardly (sorry!) but if you sort of picture it in the guest house in your mind it kind of works...anyway, let me know what you think! I'm always happy to make edits if you come up with a good one! Review, review, review!


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